Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire Wills 1479-1652

British Record Society Volume 42

Published 1911

Read the Original Introduction to the BRS Volume 42.

Locating the original documents

Where are the originals held?

The original wills are held at Huntingdonshire Archives and Local Studies. To obtain copies contact the Huntingdonshire Archives and Local Studies by letter, fax or e-mail, giving full details (including source ie BRS and which church court etc) and references. A detailed quotation (of cost) will be sent to you. A reprographics order form is available to download from the Huntingdonshire Archives and Local Studies.

What information from the document do I need to locate the original?

• Testator's name
• Year of will or admon
• Place
• Register
• Folio

Note - wills proved between 1649 and 1660 will be found in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury since during the civil war the church courts were abolished and a single centralised probate system was established. Between this time all wills were proved and all grants of administration made, at one central Court of Probate in London. This was really just the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) under a different name and thus wills etc proved during this period will be found indexed within the PCC. See PCC volumes BRS 54, BRS 61, and Matthews 1-9 for this period.

About the index

This is an index to the wills (1479-1652) and administrations (1559-1614) for the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, properly called 'Commissary Court of the Bishop of Lincoln and of the Archdeacon in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon'. Most of the county of Huntingdon was within this jurisdiction, which also originally included part of Hertfordshire as well as the parish of Everton in Bedfordshire.

There were four Peculiars in the Hunts Archdeaconry: Brampton, Stow Longa, Buckden, and Leighton Bromswold. Of these only Brampton contains any wills prior to 1660, which are included in this index.

What does the index include?

All names and places referring to the testator appearing in the will plus incidental information are included in the index.

Names are arranged alphabetically. This means some name variants may not appear clustered together. Names in the index are according to the spelling used in the documents, usually based on the signaturee of the testator.

Dates of wills are given in 'Old Style' or Julian Calendar.

The folio number identifies the group of pages, anywhere from 2 to 16, within which the will's first page appears.

Bundle refers to the number of wills contained in a particular bundle.